Soap Box

I was in the recording studio working on an album on April 6 when I received a text from my manager with only one line.

�Merle Haggard has died.�

I immediately shared it on Twitter and almost as immediately, Paula, our publicist, started receiving calls from media outlets looking for reaction about Merle's death from industry people, and within an hour or so we had the first of three TV crews who came out to tape interviews.

Such was the stature of Merle Haggard in Music City and the music community in general and as the entertainment reporters scrambled to get something together for the early news, I had occasion to express the way I feel about the Hag, the legend that he was, the songs he wrote and sang and the long shadow he cast over American music for five decades.

You can count on your fingers the number of people in country music who reached the status of being recognized by just their first name. Elvis, Hank, Loretta, Willie, Dolly, Garth, and a precious few others ever breathed that rarified air and Merle was one of them. When you said Merle, anybody who knew the least thing about country music knew who you were talking about.

You could hear one of his songs you'd never heard and after you'd listened to the first line you knew it was Merle.

Now, just how many modern day singers can you say that about today. In this homogenized, cookie cutter, copycat affair that the mainstream record business has become, Merle was always recognizable, a breath of fresh water amongst the stale atmosphere of modern day country music.

Merle wrote and sang in a style and vocabulary that was understood by the common man and like Hank Williams and George Jones, held a special place in their hearts, a "he's one of us" type place, that transcended the artist-Fan relationship.
People truly loved Merle and related to the heartbreak, hard drinking, outlaw songs he sang like nobody else could.

He inspired at least two generations of aspiring country singers and up until the recent country rap, �bro country� or whatever the title du jour came along, you could hear a little bit of Merle in the vocal style of a lot of young country singers.

To say Merle lived a full and sometimes tumultuous life would be an understatement. He was married five times and there seems to be a gray area as to whether he did or did not spend time in prison.

He always kept a top-notch band and traveled the country right up until his health wouldn't allow him to get on the bus and head down the road anymore, and I'm sure that had to be one of the saddest days of his life.

I remember the first rime I ever saw him, some 48 or so years ago. He knocked my socks off. The simplistic style of the music the band played behind him emphasized the lyrics he was singing in that one of a kind voice, no tricks, no gimmicks, no musical acrobatics, just four guys and Merle putting out a sound that hit you right in the part of your heart where your emotions live.

Merle's individuality and unique style will leave a gap in country music, a gap that cannot be filled by anybody, present or future.

The Lord only made one Merle Haggard.

Rest in peace, sir and thank you for the music that will set the standard for many years to come.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

� Charlie Daniels

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